Dangerous Desire
by Momma Readsalot
Summary: Vampires are out for revenge and the Quileute shape shifters are their target. Seemingly impenetrable, the revengeful vampires find a way to get to the wolf pack - through their imprints. Meanwhile, teenage Claire is hopelessly in love with Quil and doesn't yet understand why. Quil has to pretend like she doesn't exist to keep her out of harm's way. But will it be too late?
1. Chapter 1

_DISCLAIMER!  
I'm just an avid fan laying no claims to Stephanie Meyer's world of Twilight. All characters are hers and storylines are largely based off the Twilight series books. The Louisiana bayou vampire coven ARE mine however and completely and totally made up. Any resemblance to real or fictional people is entirely a coincidence, yada yada yada you get the gist!_

 _ **Preface:**_

The metallic smell of blood permeated the air. Both wolf and vampire blood intermingled into a wild and deadly combination. Sounds of metal tearing and twisting with occasional whines and howls echoed in the forest. A new coven of vampires thought they could take up residence in the lush Pacific Northwest forests, however they didn't know that these forests were already occupied. They didn't know about the legend of the shape shifters who protect these lands. They didn't know how outnumbered and inadequate they would be. Picking off unsuspecting tourists in the Louisiana Bayou had been easy, too easy. They didn't know that they weren't the top of the supernatural food chain. What they didn't know would get most of them killed...  
Unfortunately, despite the devastation of the loss of most of their coven, they weren't finished. The few remaining vampires wanted revenge and they figured out how to get it.

 **Chapter 1:**

 _Claire POV (age 16):_

Summers used to be my favorite time of year. My parents let me stay with my auntie Emily and her husband Sam, well they used to until the accident. The details around what happened are fuzzy. I have the feeling that the "adults" don't want us "kids" to know something. But that could just be my imagination working overtime again. I do that a lot. People say that I come up with some pretty crazy stories. Once my parents took me to a therapist when I told them that I had dreams of a giant wolf who was my guardian angel. Overactive imagination, I tell ya!

Back to the accident, last summer my auntie Emily was the victim of a wild animal attack. Some rumors say it was a bear, some say it was a cougar, but no one really knows the truth. Why? Because my auntie can't speak anymore. She survived the attack, however I don't think you could consider her current state as really living. She is being kept alive by machines pretty much, but my uncle Sam won't take her off of them. He says something about it being his duty to always protect her. Who knows - maybe there will still be a miracle that she'll wake up one day?

Now this summer is going to be spent at home with my parents. How much more lame can a teenager's summers get? Despite the lame summer, I really miss my friends and family on the Quileute reservation. I felt like it was my second home. And then there's this guy. Isn't there always a guy? I loved to spend my summers drooling over him. Of course he didn't even realize I existed much. That is to be expected when I'm still just a kid anyway, but hey I can dream! Oh and dream I do (overactive imagination, remember?) . In my fantasy land he's my soul mate and we are destined to be together, but he is just waiting for me to turn 18 - which explains why he has to pretend like I don't exist until then.

This guy though, how cliché it sounds but he's...so...perfect. All the guys on the Quileute reservation are like super tall and super muscle-y. Yeah not a word, but there is no better way to describe them then that. Quil though, The Guy, is just different than the others. His eyes, his hair, his smile, his biceps... I could go on and on. It's not just physical attraction though, at least I don't think it is. I really feel like we have some sort of secret connection even though he rarely looks my way or even says more than two words to me. Sometimes I get the feeling though that it's nothing more than a childish crush like my friends have on their favorite celebrity..and just as obtainable or possible too (in other words NEVER GONNA HAPPEN).

Apparently Quil (The Guy) used to be quite close with my family, so I know he knows my name at least. From family pictures and a few fuzzy memories I have, he was like a brother to me. We're NOT related though, let's be clear on that right now. Trust me, I checked the family tree. For some reason though he just really liked hanging out with my family I guess. He was a really good babysitter too and took care of me a lot (how embarrassing is that!) Something happened a few years ago though and he never came around as much, then soon it was not at all. Now it's like I don't even exist to him.  
This summer my parents were planning on some big European cruise that they were supposed to take alone. However, because of auntie Emily's accident my sister and I are stuck here at home. I offered to keep an eye on things and watch my sister so that my parents could still go. Besides, my friends are all off having beach parties and whatever else, and I'm just not feeling up to it. I miss my Quileute friends and I miss seeing Quil. Even if he pretended like I wasn't even on his radar, just being near him made me feel better somehow. Now I feel only as if I piece of me is missing.

Today my parents are leaving for their cruise. They gave me a list nearly a mile long of "emergency numbers" to call. Oh and they also have our neighbor, an old cranky cat lady, keeping an eye out for us. It's not like I've never been home alone before, even if it is for three weeks . I can drive, cook, clean, and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of Gracie. My sister Gracie is only a couple years younger than me anyway...it will be a breeze. I have some grand plans of visiting the library, maybe watching a few movie marathons (Nightfall, a movie series about vampires, are my sister's favorite *gag*), and reading several books. All in all, it will be a SUPER fun summer (can you sense my sarcasm?)

 _Quil's POV /backstory_

The few of us that are left who are strong enough to fight are nearly on constant patrol these days. We are jumpy and not quite ourselves. We often think we hear sounds and smell vampire when there is nothing there. This constant patrolling also gives me a lot of time to think...to think about things I'd rather forget and painful things that make me ache.

Being away from your imprint is worse than any imaginable torture for a shape shifter like us. However, tragic events over the past few years have caused me to place a safe level of separation between Claire, my imprint, and I. I am so thankful that I listened to my instincts back at the very beginning of all of this and distanced myself from Claire years ago. My wolf instincts knew that there was a threat against my imprint and that the only way to save her was to forget her. While an imprint can never truly be erased or forgotten, the bond grows weaker as distance and time separates the pair. It killed me to walk away from Claire, but I felt that I had to do it. I didn't know why yet, but I could feel that it was necessary.

At first I kept trying to come back and see her anyway. I couldn't just quit cold turkey. I needed to see her and know that she was okay. Turning my back on my imprint felt like a piece of me was being literally ripped away. As I kept seeing her, however, even the little amount of time it was, the more I felt that danger was in the air. This sort of danger was different. This sort of danger didn't make me want to run and protect Claire, but rather it made me feel like I needed to keep her away from me, for her own protection. I'm glad I listened...

I couldn't explain to the pack how I felt. They had imprints that they were romantically involved with already. Claire and I were different, however. I had no romantic interest in her, obviously. Our imprint bond worked as such that I was solely her protector. I was who she needed me to be. It worked the same for the other guys in the pack, but I think the romance side of things got in the way sometimes of the natural instincts. That is the only way I know how to explain what happened. God, I wish I had figured it out sooner. So much hurt and pain could have been prevented.

My memory starts to flashback to seven years ago...where it all began. We thought our pack was done growing after all the newborn vampire drama and Volutri intrusion, however we thought wrong. We were taken by surprise when two young boys of the tribe, Eli and Jace who were barely 13 years old, shifted. No one was expecting that. What we didn't know was that a new vampire coven was trying to take up residence in our forests. Silly them had never heard the legends up here I guess. They were from downs south, Louisiana or something. They led a pretty sheltered life in the Bayou from the looks of them. When we finally caught their scent and met up with them, they looked totally shocked to see us. We completely ambushed them.

Unfortunately in the scuffle, they took out Brady and Eli. A couple of the vampires in their coven were very fast, like Cullen fast. Once they recovered from the shock, they got a couple lethal bites in, and that was all it took. We got them back good though. We wiped out four of their coven that night. My only regret is that we couldn't get them all before two escaped. I figured they wouldn't be back, but after the deaths of Brady and Eli, the pack felt we needed to double up on patrol duties for a time. I couldn't spend as much time with Claire, and I started to feel that warning signal starting then - that I needed to keep away from her.

The quiet and calm of the next three years to follow was a facade. We realize now that the remaining two vampires were just laying in wait while trying to figure us out. They had all the time in the world to wait until the time was perfect to strike. They knew that two of them couldn't stand a chance against the pack, even with us down two members. So they found another way to get us. They had abilities that we didn't know about, abilities that could hurt shifters like us.

The first attack was four years ago (or three years after we nearly decimated their coven). Rachel, Jacob's sister and Paul's imprint, was out for a run on an old logging road up in the mountains. Paul hated that she would insist on these solo jogs up in the mountains. She loved Paul, but she loved her space though. He found a compromise by giving her enough distance to make her feel like she was alone, yet he could still be there within seconds if needed. That day , however, he got tied up patrolling elsewhere due to a report of a possible vampire in the area on the opposite side of the Rez. Rachel was supposed to be baking or something with Emily, but instead she decided to go for her run early that day. While up on the mountain road, a rogue vampire caught up with Rachel. There was only one purpose in mind for that vampire and it was to kill her. It was fast and quick. She never had a chance. By the time Paul felt danger for his imprint, it was already too late. We had thought it was very very bad luck, but we should have known better. It was too calculated, too quick, too perfect. Typically vampires have this sadistic habit of "playing with their food" as bad as that sounds. Not this vampire though.

When an imprint of a shifter is killed, it will nearly kill the shifter. It left him incapacitated and a mere shell of who he once was. It was like his eyes were dead and nothing else existed beyond them. The guilt took over quickly and Paul couldn't handle it anymore. He apologized to the pack but said that he needed to get away from the pack, the shifting, the vampires, and his memories. He was planning on just running as far as he could, way up into Canada or something and starting over as just a person, not a wolf and not an ex-imprintee, but just a guy roughing it in the middle of nowhere or something. We respected his space and hoped he'd come back to us someday. No one had ever lost an imprint before, we didn't know what to expect.

Patrols increased even more after that of course. We were all reeling over Rachel's death and could feel some of the pain that Paul felt. The connection of a pack is strong, imprints and all. Jacob, Rachel's brother, was devastated almost as much as Paul. He wanted revenge and he wanted it badly. However, we never did pick up on a trail for that vampire or find them for a long while. We decided it was just a vampire traveling through and we'd probably never see him after that, wrong again.

Two years later it happened again. This time it was Embry's imprint Chloe. Chloe is a semi-distant cousin of Jacob's. Embry imprinted on her when her family came to visit for some big family reunion of some kind. We knew then that Embry couldn't have been Jacob's brother and that Sam Uley's dad must have fathered him. No one knew before that, but we had speculations. Embry couldn't have imprinted on his own cousin though, so by process of elimination we realized that Embry was an Uley.

Chloe was driving up to see Embry (she lived on a different reservation across the state), when she was run off the road. It could have been made to look like an accident, except for the fact that her car door was ripped clean off the frame. Only vampires have that sort of strength. By some miracle though, Embry had decided to meet her and couldn't wait for her to drive over to see him. He was already on his way to see Chloe, and was in wolf form to get there faster, when he sensed the danger. This vampire was just as quick as the last one, but Embry was quicker in this instance. The vampire didn't wait around to be torn from limb to limb though. He took off before Embry got there. Embry didn't keep chase because he was more concerned about Chloe. She was hurt badly from the car accident but was going to be okay. She hadn't been bit yet and could recover from the human injuries of a car wreck. It was a long recovery, with Embry was by her side the whole time. She will always have a horrible scar across her head and face to remember the accident by and she deals with some chronic pain from the accident, but she's alive. We are so happy and thankful for that after Rachel's death.

Things started to pick up though after Chloe's accident. We started to think that it was odd that these super fast vampires have found two of our imprints. It was almost too coincidental. We had to be more careful and more wary. Patrols again increased. Yet still not a year later, the vampire tries again. Unfortunately for that vampire, Nessie is a hybrid between human and vampire. While she has a heartbeat and smells like a human, she's also gifted and strong like her vampire parents. She still probably wouldn't have been a match for that vampire though had she been alone. Thankfully Nessie's parents, Edward and Bella, were close by. Nessie was able to fend off the attack for a short time because of her supernatural strength, but mommy and daddy scared off the vampire before he could overcome her. Nessie was unharmed but shaken. We knew then that it was becoming too coincidental. Even Edward said that it was odd that he didn't sense another vampire. They were WAY too quick for it to just be a random attack. No one saw them coming.

We had a tribal council meeting to decide what to do. So far the attacks were only on imprints, and that was baffling us because the imprints served no danger to vampires. I was so thankful that I had distanced myself from Claire years ago. I think it may have saved her because our bond was so weak. Claire would have been an extremely easy target as just a child.

The council decided to take the remaining imprints, Kim, Chloe, and Emily, to Sam Uley's home and provide round the clock guard for his home. The pack would split up to do patrols on the borders of the Rez and the others would guard Sam's home. The shifter magic was still in effect as two new members, Nicky and Micah, shifted and were added to our pack. They helped filled the spots of the devastating loss of Brady and Eli. We thought we would be impenetrable. We thought we had it figured out, but we thought wrong yet again.

A year later, just as we're starting to think that it was over again and letting our guard down some, Sam's imprint Emily got distracted and wandered a little too far away from our protection. She got too far into the forest looking for huckleberries to put in her famous huckleberry pie. I swear that vampire was just biding his time and waiting for the right moment because he was right there and ready the moment she got far enough away for no one to hear her. The blood sucker tossed her around some this time though and hurt her pretty bad before Embry and Seth came along on their patrol route. The vampire didn't have time to finish her off and didn't want to risk being seen so he left, again. Emily was near death by that time already though. Sam was there an instant later, sensing the imprint warning signal, and whisked her off to a hospital. The doctors said she had massive internal bleeding, a major skull fracture, and several other broken bones. She was in a coma and they didn't know how long it would be, if ever, that she'd wake up. For the mean time, machines kept her alive and Sam refused to give up hope. How could he? The imprint bond would never let him. None of us would do any different.

Something was different about this time though. Earlier in the day Leah, Jared, and Micah had stumbled across the path of a vampire - two vampires to be exact. The scent trail abruptly ended oddly, but it was enough to jog a memory in Leah's head. That was the same scent of the two vampires we had tried to track for awhile after the Louisiana coven massacre. They were the two escaped vampires... suddenly things began to click into place. We contacted the Cullens to see what inside information they might have. They said that many years ago one of their family had come across a coven of vampires down south. It was unusual to see a large group of vampires as they usually like to be in pairs or solo. However, this coven was made up of six vampires, most of them mated. The Cullens said that if this was the same coven, then they had some really unique abilities amongst them. A couple had the super fast ability like Edward had, another had the ability to completely hide their scent in a shield-like way that Bella had, and another could sense connections or mated pairs. That vampire would be able to sense our imprint bonds. It suddenly made sense to us how our imprints were being targeted and how we never even know the blood suckers were coming.

Learning of this news, I immediately called Claire's parents to tell them that the Rez was extremely dangerous right now and with Emily's attack, Claire shouldn't come visit this summer. I hoped we'd find those vampires soon, or else none of us could rest easy with our imprints again.


	2. Chapter 2

_DISCLAIMER!  
I'm just an avid fan laying no claims to Stephanie Meyer's world of Twilight. All characters are hers and storylines are largely based off the Twilight series books. The Louisiana bayou vampire coven ARE mine however and completely and totally made up. Any resemblance to real or fictional people is entirely a coincidence, yada yada yada you get the gist!_

 _Claire POV_

Our parents have been gone for only a few days when Gracie and I start to get creeped out. Typical teenage girls that we are, suddenly we aren't so big and tough anymore and we start to feel scared by every little sound from outside, car driving by at night, or noises in the house. I think about calling one of our emergency contact numbers but I tell myself that I need to suck it up and take charge of the situation. We were doing okay until a huge storm blows through.

I followed the usual storm protection procedures (living by the ocean can get some nasty storms blow in) and boarded up the windows, got out the flashlights and candles incase our electricity went out, and made sure we had enough food for a couple days...unfortunately the electricity did go out but it's been a couple days now and it's still out.

As our food is starting to get low, I decide that we need to go somewhere else for a short time until things get back up and running. I'm also secretly looking for an excuse to go visit my friends on the Quileute reservation. I know that my parents said not to go there, that I'd be a burden with everything that happened with Emily, however I have some other friends on the Rez there too who I could stay with. The storm passed by the Quileute reservation somehow, and they still had electricity. Grace is freaking out and I need to do something. So I pick up my list of number and scroll down until I see the Clearwater's number. Sue was always like a second mom to us and Leah and Seth were pretty alright (even if Leah had such an attitude at times...don't get on her wrong side!).

After the second ring Sue picks up the phone, "Hello, this is Sue speaking?"

"Hi Sue, it's me Claire! Claire Young, Emily's niece." Silence...

"Claire! How are you? Is everything okay? What's going on?" Odd how concerned sounding she is, but whatever, like I said, she's like a second mom when I was there.

"Oh it's all good Sue! Actually we had that bad storm come through and we've been without electricity for a couple days. My parents are on vacation for a couple more weeks. I don't know how long this power outage will last but my sister Gracie is starting to get scared and we're running low on food". I quickly say in a rush. I don't like to ask for help much, and I haven't seen Sue in year. It feel a bit odd imposing like this.

Sue replies though, much to my relief, that she'd be happy to have us come stay with her until our electricity comes back on. She starts rattling off all the food she's going to have cooked and waiting for us. In true motherly fashion, she can't wait to get us full of home cooked meals and with a warm bed to sleep in. Sue suggests that Leah come pick us up, but I remind her that I have a car now and can drive there myself. We hang up with me promising I'll be there in half an hour and will call immediately if there are any problems.

"Gracie! Get up, I've got a place for us to stay. We're driving to the Quileute reservation to stay with friends for a few days." Gracie has heard me gush over Quil before, so she gives me a knowing smirk.

"Are you sure you're not just using this power outage thing as an excuse to see Quil?" she teases me.

"Shut it Grace, that's not even true. I'm over Quil anyway, he's much too old for me" I try to sound sincere. Grace sees through me though and just laughs at me while packing up her clothes.

We've gotten ready the quickest two teenage girls have ever gotten ready in history I'm sure. Grace may know my little secret about Quil, but I know her little secret about Seth. She's had her eye on Seth Clearwater for awhile, so she 's more than willing to go stay at the Clearwater's for a few days too.

Before we leave, I take a quick glance into the mirror. My glossy black hair is falling well past my shoulders now. Despite the moist air, I'm having a great hair day thankfully. My usual bronze cheeks are a little rosy from the anticipation of maybe seeing Quil. My deep chestnut-brown eyes shine with excitement. Since last year my body has started to fill out more like a woman now. I have curves and a womanly shape. I think Quil would approve. I think he wouldn't see me as such a little girl anymore. Just in case I see him, I pack my most flattering shirts of course.

"Holy heck Claire, get in the car already and quit primping for Quil!" Grace shouts at me while honking from the car. I blush vividly and run out the door.

The drive to La Push is about 30 minutes or so, although I take my time in the rain. I only got my license a few months ago and still am a little nervous about driving. My friends say that I'm too careful and cautious sometimes, that I should try just living a little. I just can't though, I'm a cautious person by nature I guess. Some would say that's boring, but I say it's safe and safe is good. As I drive and Grace is drifting off to sleep (I guess she didn't sleep too well last night), I think about my friends on the Makah reservation where I live. I'm not exactly the most popular girl, by far. I have a few friends, but mostly I keep to myself. I love to read and daydream about Quil. Okay, I know I'm sounding a little obsessed here, but really he's in my dreams and thoughts all of the time. I've never really felt at home on the Makah Rez, but I do at La Push, and with Quil.

Finally we pull up to the Clearwater's house and Sue is on the porch waiting for us. She looks like a worried mother.

"Claire, why did it take so long for you to get here? I was getting worried!" Sue breathed out.

"So sorry Sue! I was driving slowly because of the rain and branches on the road from the storm. I'm not the best driver yet" I added, which probably wasn't a good idea because Sue looked even more anxious.

"Claire Young! You should have told me how bad the conditions were out here and that you are a new driver still. I would have sent my son or daughter to come get you!" she chided.

I apologized and started unloading our bags with Gracie. Sue leads us up to our room. It looks like she kicked Leah out of her room so we could sleep in there. Oops, I feel bad now. I hope Leah won't be too mad at us! I wonder where Leah is staying...

It's dinner time by the time we've gotten all unpacked and cleaned up. I can smell delicious smells coming from downstairs in the kitchen. I've gotten so tired of the scorched food we've eaten the last few days. I still hadn't gotten the hang of cooking on a propane burner.

"Grace, dinner time, let's go" I shout at Grace as she's busy texting away on her phone. She has more of a social life then I'll ever have I think. Grace gets off the bed and quickly runs her hands over her hair, smoothes her shirt and asks me how she looks. I roll my eyes at her and tell her she's fine, that Seth probably has more important things on his mind then to ogle her anyway.

Just as I bound down the stairs, the front door opens. My heart leaps into my throat when I see Quil and Seth walk in. Holy hell...he just gets hotter and hotter. I don't think I'm breathing for a second. It really is like a celebrity crush with Quil. I feel all star-struck looking at him and it's like a slow-motion movie scene as he shakes his hair out of the hat he was wearing from the rain outside. He looks at me with.. awe? Love? Shock? Confusion? Anger? wait... what's his deal? Suddenly I'm not sure I've read him right and he's looking very angry, even scared, for a moment until his face goes blank again. He shrugs as if he never saw me standing there and gives Sue a hug and kiss on the cheek.

Rejection.

I just wish he'd even show some sort of hint that he knows I exist. That would make my day, my year really. Uggh Boys!

"Sue, ahh, so what're the dinner guests here for?" he mumbles through his teeth.

I think he didn't want us to hear, but we could hear him loud and clear. I feel a blush rising to my cheeks as I get the feeling that he doesn't want us here. Annoying, giggly, girls are all we are to him. Gracie is giggling at Seth who walked in behind Quil.

"Hi Seth!" Gracie enthusiastically shouts his way. She has no fear. I wish I was more like her sometimes. Seth blushes at her obvious happy reaction in seeing him. Blushes? Wait, what? Why is he blushing? Maybe he likes her too... .awesome. So I'm the only invisible one in the room.

Sue clears her throat and says loud enough for us to all hear, "Claire and Grace Young are here as our guests for a few days while their power is out, I hope you all will make them feel at home!"

I'm still tongue-tied, but anger over Quil's rude reaction is starting to loosen my tongue up quite well, "Yes, thank you so much Sue for offering to help us out. We hope we aren't too much of an inconvenience".

Sue glares at Quil and asks us all to sit and start eating the mouth-watering grilled salmon she made for dinner. Quil shifts in his seat uncomfortably and starts a conversation with Seth, however it he seems angry still and even worried.

"So, Seth, have you caught any sign of that bear out there in the forest lately? I know you've been tracking a specific problem-bear for awhile now, how did today go?" Quil awkwardly asked Seth. His question seemed to have a double meaning, because Sue went pale at the question.

The rest of dinner is just as awkward as Quil keeps trying to ask odd questions with seeming double meanings, Gracie is giggling at Seth, Seth is blushing into his plate and won't make eye contact with Gracie, and Sue keeps getting paler and paler as the conversation goes on. This dinner isn't going well at all. Quil has talked to pretty much everyone at the table except for me. It's like he purposefully goes out of his way to ignore me and he wants me to know that he's ignoring me. I don't get it. I don't know why he'd even care that I knew he was ignoring me. I thought I wasn't even on his radar. It's almost as if his purposeful ignoring game is a warning to me of some kind, like pushing me away but I don't understand why.

 _Quil's POV_

There's been some increasing blood sucker activity around our area lately. It's unusual because the two vampires that have targeted us usually are very careful and nearly impossible to track due to one of them having a unique ability to totally cover their scent. Honestly it's very worrisome because we have no clue what to expect out of these two leeches. They could just walk right up to our front door and we wouldn't be able to see them coming. The guys are worrying about being torn between patrolling the Rez and between being with their mates. Again, I'm so thankful that I have Claire safely separated from me on the Makah reservation.

Seth and I are patrolling tonight when Jacob and Embry come to relieve us. Sue wants Seth home for dinner I guess. She can be pretty demanding when she wants something.

"Quil you coming for dinner too? You know mom always makes enough to feed the whole tribe", Seth laughs and shakes his head.

I agree to go with Seth because only a fool would pass up Sue Clearwater's home cooking.

The rain is coming down hard outside, so I stop to shake off my coat and hat before walking through Sue's house. Just then I hear footsteps on the stairs and I look up...

My breath hitches in my throat. I can't help but feel over the moon happy when I see Claire. I hadn't seen her in so long that I started to forget what she looked like. There is no other word that comes to mind but _Amazing_. She's grown up, a lot. She doesn't look like a child anymore...she looks like a woman.

Just then my rational mind scolds me, reminding me that she IS still a child at 16 years old. I don't know how to feel - happy, confused, mad? I decide that mad is a good emotion to go with, it keeps her safe.

During dinner I try not to look her way. The imprint connection is like a magnetic force that just pulls me to her, however. I don't know how to fight it, but I have to try for her sake. I've heard that if an imprintee refuses the connection, then the bond is weakened greatly but never broken. As I sit here through Sue's dinner, I realize that the best way to go is make Claire angry with me. I know she has to feel the pull too, so if I make her angry at me then maybe, just maybe, she'll refuse me and move on.

Sitting through this dinner and making it a point to ignore Claire is the strongest battle of wills I've ever been in. This is second only to walking away from her all those years ago. It has been so long since I've seen her, been near her, or smelled her, that my instinct is to run to her and never let her leave my side. I can only hope that my rudeness is working, and I think it is by the angry vibe I'm getting from her. It hurts like a knife twisting in my side when I purposefully hurt or anger my imprint, however I have to keep reminding myself that it's necessary.

Finally dinner is over and I offer to help with dinner clean-up. I am in the kitchen cleaning off plates when Claire comes up behind me. I could feel her without even needing to see her there. It is like some part of me is always aware of where she is.

Claire looks unsure of herself and a little nervous. I thought my plan of being standoffish would have done the trick, but I think she's going to try to talk to me. Crap.

"Hi Quil", she says in the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. It's like music to my ears hearing my name come from her mouth.

I don't even stop what I'm doing though or even acknowledge her. What can I do or say to make her go away? Think..think... Oh how good she smells though.  
FOCUS Quil.

"Do you remember me? I'm Emily's niece. I think you used to babysit me" , she adds with a nervous giggle.

She looks like a woman now but I can tell that she has lead a pretty sheltered life. She seems so...innocent. It's that innocence that drives me on. I have to preserve that innocence and protect her. My resolve is strong.

"Sorry kid, I don't remember that very well. I babysat a lot back then for extra money. All you little kids looked the same" I say in the most nonchalant and uninterested tone I could manage.

She stops breathing for a second. By the ache in my heart, I think I've made her really angry or hurt. God this kills me too...

"Ahh oh, okay. Yeah sorry. Well I'm going upstairs, but, uhh nice seeing you again", she mumbles out as fast as she can in a strange small voice while backing out of the kitchen quickly.

The only thing I want more in the world right now is to go to her and tell her everything. It shouldn't be like this. These imprint bonds weren't made for this, but I don't know of any other way to protect her. Maybe one day she'll forgive me after this vampires are taken care of once and for all.


	3. Chapter 3

_DISCLAIMER!  
Micah is mine, all mine (muah-hah-hah)...but the rest are Stephanie Meyer's! _

**Chapter 3**

 _Claire POV_

I've never felt so hurt.. .humiliated...angry. I can't believe that I've been wasting time obsessing over someone who could care less whether I existed or not. I can't believe that I could think I loved such a... jerk. I feel really silly now thinking that we had some sort of unspoken connection. I feel like such a... _sob_... little girl.

It's time for me to grow up and leave behind childish crushes.

I cry softly into my pillow, tears of hurt and shame. This makes me want to cry harder. Why is this affecting me so much? Why should I care when he obviously doesn't? Yet I still can't explain this ripping, tearing feeling in my heart. I feel like I am being torn into two. My heart feels raw and bleeding.

Is this what a broken heart feels like? I'm so naive. I've spent most of my childhood being cared for by others and not experiencing any hurt. With my play-it-safe attitude, I haven't gotten to experience much teenage rites of passage. I spent way too much time thinking about Quil and saving my heart for him.

I'm done. I'm over it.

I'm going to be young and free like every other teenage girl out there. It's time to make a change.

As my tears start to dry up, I feel a sense of clarity come over me. I feel...free. I don't even need a guy to make me happy. Relationships are too much work anyway.

Quil who? I go to bed with other thoughts on my mind for the first time in years. I think about future plans, shopping trips, beach parties, and hot boys. My future is mine.

Days go by and I don't see Quil stop by the Clearwater's anymore. I'm pretty certain he's avoiding coming here now, but I don't know why. Once I saw him out waiting at the end of the road for Seth to come join him. He wouldn't get any closer to the house. It was eerie seeing him just standing there at the end of the road and looking out towards the forest. He stood there like he was listening or waiting for something. As soon as Seth joined him, they took off in a sprint towards the forest until they disappeared from view.

I thought about calling one of my best friends from the Makah reservation, but I know everyone is tired of hearing about Quil. Instead I need to do this on my own. I need to figure out who I am and what I like to do - separate from always wondering if it would please Quil, or make me stand out more to him.

If it seems I am wishy washy it's because there are times when I feel like my brain is telling me to forget him and move on, yet my heart isn't quite letting me completely let go. I am trying though, and trying hard.

I can't stand being cooped up at the Clearwater's house. I don't know how long Grace and I plan on staying here, but I'm not sticking around waiting like a love sick puppy for Quil to maybe stop by.  
I've decided that I'm going to explore the Quileute rez, maybe meet some hot boys, and just clear my mind. The coastline is so beautiful here that it's easy to forget for a moment my silly teenage girl problems.

In the morning, I decide to take a walk around La Push and work on the new and free Claire. I still feel the ache from Quil's rejection, however the more I push it away and out of my mind, the better I start to feel...the more I can breathe.

"Gracie, I'm going out for a walk. I need some air. I won't be gone long, " I whisper into Grace's ear as she mumbles something unintelligible into her pillow.

It's early and no one is awake yet. I've always been an early riser though. There is something about the still silence that hangs in the air of a new day and the smell of fresh morning air that I just love.

I head towards the beach and decide to let the rhythmic sound of the crashing waves soothe my thoughts and be my comforter.

In the distance I see the outline of a shape, a boy-sized shape, out for a morning run too.  
"You can do this Claire. In with the good, out with the bad!" I give myself a pep talk as I resolve to approach this boy and talk to him.

He gets closer and I think I recognize him. I may have seen him hanging out with Seth before. I may or may not have gotten a fleeting thought that I could get to Quil by making him jealous through one of his friends.

He slows down and takes his ear buds out as he gets to me. He has the most beautiful long glossy obsidian black hair hanging in one thick braid down his back. Of course he's shirtless as well, because apparently it's a thing on this Rez to go shirtless, and get matching tattoos. But who's complaining? Not this girl!

His big smile reaches his eyes as he asks, "Claire.. Right?". I let my eyes travel up and down his well-muscled chest. Forgetting about Quil wouldn't be so hard to do here on this Rez.

"Hi...yes, I'm Claire. I forget your name...?" I ask, a bit breathlessly.

"Micah...Micah Eastman" he stammers out. He is HUGE but he seems young at heart. If I were to close my eyes and listen to him speak, I'd guess him to be exactly around my age.

"Well hi Micah! It's nice to talk to another person. I've been getting pretty bored at Sue Clearwater's house the past few days. I love the beach in the morning so I thought I'd come for a walk..." I trail off as I realize I was starting to ramble. I'm not so good on this flirting thing. Maybe I should bat my eyelashes or something, that seems to work for my other friends.

"Claire is something in your eye?" Micah asks me with concern.

Yeah, it's official. I'm horrible at this flirting thing. I decide to just drop the flirting and be myself.  
"Oh never mind. So do you mind walking with me the rest of the way? It's nice having someone to talk to".

"I'd be happy to, Claire" Micah grins at me.

As we walk along the rest of the beach, circling around back towards town, I make small talk with Micah. Soon I realize how comfortable I am talking with him. I laugh easily with him and relax enough to just be my true self. He doesn't seem annoyed by me at all. He listens to me and looks me in the eyes. I don't feel like a silly little girl around him. I feel like...an equal.

Micah isn't shy either. He doesn't hold back or look like he's uncomfortable being around me. He touches my arm lightly while telling me some funny story of something that happened with his friends recently.

We're almost back to town already and we've talked the entire time. I don't think I've ever talked that long with someone. I think, at the least, I've found a great new friend here on the Quileute Rez.

"Claire it's been fun hanging out with you. We should do this again. I know I could use some more friends too. It gets boring looking at the same ugly faces all the time" he laughs.

I assume he means the other guys, but they are far from ugly. I wouldn't mind looking at those faces all day...focus Claire!

"Yeah, definitely Micah. I'd like to go do some hiking tomorrow, wanna join me?"

His smile begins to fade suddenly though and he quickly pales. I don't know what in the world I just said that was wrong. Then I notice he's not looking at me, he's looking over my shoulder.

Like in slow motion I turn around and see the dark heap of something, oh God is that someONE, in the grass behind us. The dark heap of a something or someone isn't moving. I start to move forward to get a better look, but Micah has snapped out of it and springs into action.

"Claire, I need you to go run inside the shop and wait there." I recognize that we are by Jacob Black's auto-shop.

Micah turns and runs fast, very fast, to the treeline nearby. I don't know if he saw something in the trees or what. The whole thing is like a very bad dream.

I have to see who or what that dark form in the grass is though. My curiosity is getting the best of me. Warning signals are going off everywhere in my brain, but I keep moving forward.

Finally I'm right next to the thing in the grass. I see now that it's not a thing, it IS a person. It's a woman and she's badly hurt. I don't even think she's alive. Her throat is ripped open and mangled like a bear or something got a hold of her. Her thin, black hair is splayed across her face and she almost could appear to be taking a rest there in the grass if it wasn't for the ugly and oozing red wound on her neck. I am trying to remember where I've seen her before and make sense of things when I hear a loud, ear splitting, howl come from the woods.

Maybe a wolf got her and he's still close by! Too close! Finally, instinct overpowers my curiosity and I start to run, faster and faster, back to the safety of Jacob's shop.

When I turn back around I see several of Quil's friends standing around the girl. It is then that I realize who she is.

Jared drops to his knees and gently picks up the girl and cradles her. He is yelling...no, more like howling. The girl is Kim, which I think I remember to be Jared's girlfriend or something.

I find myself leaving the shop and walking back towards...her. The danger seems to have passed for now. I see Micah in the crowd of boys and go to his side. He looks up at me and realizes I am still there. He looks pained and like something is torturing him. I wonder if she was family to him?

I slip my hand in Micah's as I feel a need to comfort him. He snaps out of his moment of pure, raw emotion and starts to pull me away from the group.

"Claire, I didn't know you were still here. We need to get you home, err , back to Sue's. Things aren't...safe...here right now", Micah seems to struggle to get the words out.

I just nod my head in agreement. I am still in a daze from what I saw. When I glance back over my shoulder I see Quil has joined the group of people by Kim's body. He's not looking at Kim though, he's staring right at me. He looks concerned and angry.

I clutch Micah's hand tighter and squeeze closer to his side. I don't know if I did that intentionally or just as a reaction to Quil's icy stare and the shock of what I just saw. However, Quil's eyes narrow even more and I have a feeling that I'm doing something wrong, somehow.

He has NO control over who I can and can't be friends with. Why should I be made to feel guilty, or like a naughty child, for having a friend that's a boy? Quil isn't even my friend, so why would he even care who I hang around with? I think the shock is starting to wear off as I feel my face heat up and my anger start to bubble over.

I must be shaking slightly, because Micah asks, "Are you okay Claire?" with concern in his voice.

"Oh I'm fine Micah. Just... a little freaked out I guess. What happened back there? Animal attack?" I try to shift the focus off of me.

"Uhh...I don't know. Looks like it. Hey I can stay with you awhile if you want" Micah also changes the conversation, and back to me.

"Sure Micah, that would be great. I'm a little creeped out still, and you make me feel safe", I say without thinking. A blush rises to my cheeks. I probably shouldn't have spoken my mind so freely without thinking about how he might take it.

Thankfully he's unfazed and just nods his head and looks to be deep in thought.

Back at Sue's house now, no one is home and Micah sits me down on the couch while wrapping a blanket around my shoulders. He must have taken my angry shaking for being cold or in shock.

I rest my head on his shoulder and feel myself begin to calm down. Micah is SO hot. I mean he's cute and all, but I mean hot like temperature wise. I hope he's not getting sick... The heat makes me sleepy and my mind begins to wander.

Things are definitely weird here...I mean on this reservation. We didn't have animal attacks that I ever heard of on the Makah reservation. Maybe it's time I think about taking Gracie back home. The electricity should be back on there by now.

Before I know it I have fallen asleep. However I'm not asleep for long. I wake up to Quil standing inches away from us. My eyes are fuzzy and sleepy, but I swear it seems he's blurring...like his whole body is vibrating so intensely that his form is starting to blur.

"Well isn't this cozy?" Quil says through clenched teeth.


	4. Chapter 4

I own the Louisiana Bayou coven...but nothing else.  
I hope you enjoy this shortie chapter from a different perspective.  
Helpful hint? I add chapters at a much faster pace when I get follows, favorites, or reviews! Us writers don't like to feel like we are just talking to ourselves here. :) So thank you to my reviewer and new followers!

 **Chapter 4**

 _Louisiana Bayou Coven POV - Pierre_

The Bayou was perfect territory for my coven and I. There were plenty of unsuspecting humans and plenty of areas to disappear into nearby. Even when we'd come out of hiding, no one would look at us suspiciously. We were just part of the odd landscape that is New Orleans.

My coven was fairly large for our kind. I didn't know of a larger coven in fact. We consisted of my mate Acadia and myself, brother and sister Julius and Josephine, and mates Remy and Zeline.

We were able to be undetected for so long because of some unique abilities several of us had. Julius and Josephine were extremely fast runners. Remy could sense connections between people, such as bonds or mated pairs. Then there was my ability... I could make us completely invisible. I could hide ourselves and our scents. We could walk into any place and pick off who we wanted without raising any alarm.

However, we got greedy and bored. We thought with our unique ability set, that our potential was limitless and we could go anywhere. Maybe we could pick up new members along the way and grow our coven even more. Soon we could control the Western hemisphere and leave the Volturi to the Eastern. I had some grand plans.

Things were going well until we got to the Pacific Northwest. Rumors were that the vast forests and cloudy gray skies made for perfect vampire country. We didn't know that those forests were already inhabited, however.

The wolves caught us by complete surprise. We were strong, but they were stronger and had the upper hand. As I had looked around me, I saw the devastation they were causing. Zeline had gotten her arms and legs ripped off, and I'm sure her head was soon to follow. Julius was in a good fight with one large wolf, but soon the ripping and shredding of metal signaled to me that he was finished also. Josephine had been one of the first to be killed, before any of us could even react. She was in a smoldering pile of vampire flesh shards in mere seconds. 

Before I knew it, my mate Acadia was also in trouble. I tried to jump in and save her, nearly taking off one smaller wolf's head in the process, but I was too late. Her beautiful silvery blond hair whipped around and her head was torn from her shoulders. I knew then that nothing we could do would stop them. We had to retreat.

I started running as fast as I ever had before. I thought the wolves were still on my trail until I realized that it was Remy coming up quickly behind me. We took one look at each other, eyes full of sheer terror, and pushed harder, farther and farther away from that ambush.

A safe distance away later, we slowed and listened carefully for any sign that we were being followed.  
We didn't hear or smell those wolves anymore.

"I think we're alone", Remy growled out.

If we could have shown emotion, we would have. Our mates were gone, our coven was decimated. The only emotion we had was anger.

Pure, unrestrained, blind range.

After an indefinite amount of time, I finally spoke.

"We need to make a plan. We need to revenge our coven."

Remy looked at me with eyes that I'm sure mirrored my own...blood red eyes that reflected our great desire for one thing. Revenge.

For the next few years we used our special abilities to hide our presence from the wolves while we watched them go about their lives. We realized two very important things about them - they were shapeshifters that shifted back to human form when not in wolf form, and that there were a lot more of them then there were of us now. We had to be smart and calculated with our attack.

Finally Remy had a breakthrough. He watched one of the wolves in human form interacting with a female of his kind. Remy recognized that they were a mated pair, they had a supernatural bond.

If they were anything like us, without our mates we are left momentarily weak, disoriented, and in extreme pain. This would be how we would get to the wolves.

The first female Remy easily was able to get. She was alone on a deserted road in the middle of the forest. It was like she was served up on a silver platter for us.

I was busy distracting the patrolling wolves away from her on the other side of the forest. Remy swiftly and effortlessly killed her with one perfect placed bite to her neck. He was gone before her mate even knew there was danger.

We watched and waited as her mate confirmed our suspicions. He was ruined and incapacitated. He left the wolf pack and tried to go hide and lick his wounds in some remote location. Unfortunately for him, we were waiting for this moment, and we easily killed him to our great delight. He tried to fight back but it was useless. He was too broken and we were too strong and fueled by our anger.

The next female mate we tried to get was driving when I stepped out in front of her car and caused her to crash. Remy was right there, waiting to rip her out of the car when we sensed wolves close. Too close. I don't know how they got here so fast, but we didn't know how many more were coming so we had to leave her.

We didn't want to wait too long before attacking again, before the wolves could figure out our plan.

The next female mate was very peculiar however. Something was off about her, yet we detected a heartbeat and warmth coming from her. Our sheltered life in the Bayou didn't tells us about hybrids either.

She was too quick and too strong for a human, yet not quite strong enough to fight us as an equal match. We could have overtaken her had two vampires not appeared suddenly. These vampires smelled odd and had strange colored eyes. We got away before they did any damage to us.  
This Pacific Northwest was quite full of surprises.

Unfortunately, the wolves must have started to figure things out then. They took their female mates and hid them with extra protection surrounding them.

We had to go back to waiting and watching from the shadows.

It wasn't long, however, before one of them wandered too far out into the forest. She had a horribly scarred face. I wondered if the wolves were such wild and brutal animals that they hurt their mates too.

When she looked at Remy and I, her eyes filled with anger and she spewed a hate filled message towards us that she was happy we had lost so much and that we'd be dead soon too.

We took our time with her. Perhaps that was risky, but she angered us because she had no fear of us and no respect of our strength and ability to kill her as easily as we could snap a twig.

This proved to be a bad decision, as two of her kind soon came along. It had to have been pure chance, since I was covering our scents quite efficiently still. We couldn't kill her, although she had to have been seconds away from death.

Luck had not been in our favor lately. Our plan only worked if we killed the female mate. We had to come up with a new way to execute our plan.

We decided to confuse the wolf pack and let them sense us, when we wanted them to. We appeared in several areas throughout the forest to throw them off. We were always two steps ahead of them though.

This was how we walked right into the middle of their town, walked right up to a house, grabbed a female mate and killed her right in plain view. The wolves were off chasing old scents we left behind. No one could sense we were there. It was easy and pure brilliance.

Very soon we would have our revenge and decimate this entire town just as they decimated our coven.


	5. Chapter 5

Sadly, I don't own Quil, or Claire..or any other characters in this chapter.  
Also, I've rewarded my readers with a special little treat at the end of this chapter. Reviews and favorites gets chapters posted faster AND fun little treats like you'll read here. ;) 

**Chapter 5:**

Previously...  
 _Before I know it I have fallen asleep. However I'm not asleep for long. I wake up to Quil standing inches away from us. My eyes are fuzzy and sleepy, but I swear it seems he's blurring...like his whole body is vibrating so intensely that his form is starting to blur._

 _"Well isn't this cozy?" Quil says through clenched teeth._

 _-  
_ QUIL POV:

The whole rez is in a panic. With the discovery of Kim's body, everyone is losing their minds. The women are screaming, children crying, and men running around trying to get everyone back inside.  
The wolves are scared for their imprints and the other tribal members suddenly feel very unprotected and very much in danger.

The safety and trust in our pack's ability to protect the rez has been shattered.

As with any dangerous situation, my first thought is to make sure my imprint is safe. I know Claire is somewhere close by. I can feel her.

Being this close to Claire lately has started to strengthen our imprint bond again. This makes me terrified because nowhere is safe now. I have to get her far away from here somehow. I have to try to sever, or near sever, the bond. That is the only way to keep Claire safe and off the bloodsuckers' supernatural radar.

I'm led to Sue's house where I know Claire is inside. I breathe a huge sigh of relief that she's here and safe, for now.

However, when I open the door suddenly my relief disappears...

There is Claire - on the couch with Micah.. _cuddling_. Cuddling?! That is sure in the hell what it looks like.

Suddenly my eyes blur as I feel the red-hot anger rising up inside me. I'm not usually such a hot-head but when it comes to Claire I go crazy.

I can feel myself starting to lose control, as hard as I try to hold myself back.  
"Well isn't this cozy?" I hear myself say in a menacing voice.

Claire and Micah's eyes fly open and surprise suddenly looks like guilt on Micah's face.

Claire tries to remain indifferent... she's so hard to read. I can't tell what goes through her mind from one moment to the next. Although all I'm thinking about right now is how to focus on calming myself down..yet Micah and Claire cuddling on the couch is the only image that keeps swimming into my view.

"Quil..." Micah warns in a cautious voice. "Maybe you should take a walk."

Then I snap. I lose it. I can't control myself anymore. The intense need to protect my imprint, from vampires AND other males, takes over.

Without a word, I pick up Claire and toss her over my shoulder caveman-style. I'm not even thinking how ridiculous this must look to other people, or that this is the 21st century and it's not okay to just toss ladies on our shoulders and run off with them. All I'm thinking about is getting her out of here.

At first Claire must be in shock by my sudden movement. She doesn't protest at all.

Halfway to the car I feel her starting to attempt to get away, punching my back and digging her feet into my chest. Of course it's futile. If I was in a better frame of mind, I might think it was even cute.

"Buckle up". I grumble to her as I put her down inside my car.

The faster we get out of here the better. She's taking too long staring at me with wide, uncertain, beautiful eyes.  
I quickly buckle her seatbelt for her and speed off, spinning my car's tires as we leave.

I don't know where I'm driving, and running in wolf form would be much faster, but I don't want to further shock Claire today.

After a few minutes I hear her start to sniffle.  
I think she's crying.  
Dammit. I hate it when girls cry. It's especially hard to hear your imprint cry.

A couple hours go by and the car is silent. I think the adrenaline has worn off and Claire has finally fallen asleep from the exhaustion of it all.  
She never said one word to me from the moment I stepped into Clearwater's house until now.

The drive gives me a chance to think about some things...things like difficult imprints. Girls are so confusing. Especially teenage girls. She's so hard to figure out. I don't know if she even likes me anymore or feels the bond. And now Micah? What is up with that!? Is she into him or something?

Micah should know better even if Claire doesn't. He has shared the pack mind - he has seen inside our thoughts when we're out patrolling or running as a pack. He knows how deep the imprint bond goes.

Even if Claire decided not to choose me as a mate, there is an unbreakable rule that pack members don't get with another pack member's imprint.

My heart aches at the thought of Claire not choosing me and choosing someone else instead. I know it's well within her right, and I'll have to support her decisions regardless, but it won't make it hurt any less. I am supposed to be what she needs. Right now she needs a protector. I need to focus on that and not let the drama get in the way.

Being so close to Claire for so long is taking effect on me though. I can smell her and hear her tiny breaths as she sleeps. I glance over and see her cheeks in a slight flush with her adorable lips in a pout. Her hair has fallen over her face, and before I know it I'm brushing it out of the way.

Claire's eyes start to flutter and I quickly move my hand back to the steering wheel.  
She can't know about any of this. She can't know about the imprint at all. I have to keep her safe, even if that means taking her somewhere I hate and letting her have a life that doesn't include me.  
Ouch. Just saying that hurts like hell.

After almost four hours of driving, I arrive finally at our destination. My headlights flash on the mailbox and I know I have the right place.

"CULLEN" is displayed in flowing gold letters.

The Cullens have long since moved away from Forks. They relocated to some hidden away mansion outside of Seattle. Why they can't just find some modest house, I don't know. They always have to have the best.

However, the only place I could think of to keep Claire safe was with more bloodsuckers. My convoluted reasoning is that at least these ones seem pretty alright and are self-proclaimed "vegetarians" - meaning they don't feed off humans. Also, they would be a good match against other vampires and have some pretty great abilities of their own.

Claire wakes up as the car pulls to a stop. She looks around with a lot of confusion and even fear. I feel so bad for doing this but it's the only thing I could think of.

"Where are we?" She asks with uncertainty.

"Somewhere safe" is all I can answer her.

I get to her side of the car and grab her hand to pull her towards the Cullen's door.

Edward is opening the door and standing on the porch before we even get to the first step.

I know that leech is reading my mind. It's his thing. It's what he does. Damn vampires and their special little talents.

"Quil, nice to see you this evening." he pauses, "as well as you Claire".  
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he continues.

I know that he already knows why I'm here with Claire. He just wants to hear me say it, probably for Claire's sake. I can't imagine what must be going through her head right now.

"My friend Claire needs a safe place to stay and your protection". Damn that was hard to say. Me, needing help and protection from a vampire!?

Claire whips her head towards me with sudden anger and fear. "You can't just decide when and where I'll go! What about Grace? What about my parents? And what in the world do I need protection from? WHO are these people Quil?" she finally lets out in a long stream of anger-filled words.

I ignore her, because that's easiest right now. I can't give her answers, at least not ones she wants.

"Claire has safety and protection here". Edward finally says with a quirked smile. He is getting too much enjoyment from this.

Edward motions inside the house and I turn to follow him.

Claire, however, has firmly planted her feet in the ground and with crossed arms refuses to go.  
Oh for heaven's sake she's acting like a three year old right now. There is the old Claire I used to know.

"Do you want me to pick you up and carry you in?" I warn her under my breath. Of course Cullen could hear it anyway, but I have to keep up the image.

She flashes a glare at me that is full of disdain. It hurts me to go against her like this, it really does, but it's necessary.

Edward leads us to a bedroom down a side hallway. Bella then appears out of nowhere. Damn vampires - they always do that!

"Claire! Quil! Wow, it's great to see you both! The last time I saw Claire she was a tiny little thing. What are you two doing here tonight?". Typical Bella, vampire or not, always says what's on her mind and isn't one to beat around the bush. I cast Bella a warning glance. She can't say too much.

"You can sleep here tonight Claire. Then we'll...talk...in the morning" Edward interrupts the tense silence.

I can't look at Claire anymore because she wants to talk about things and ask things that I just can't tell her right now...if ever. So I take off outside and let Edward and Bella deal with her. They are good about that hospitality thing.

Outside I can finally breathe. I've been holding my breath inside the house because of the nasty odor those bloodsuckers have. *gag*

I suppose I should call the pack and let them know what's going on. I wouldn't want a whole search party wasting their time on us, not to mention needless worry on them.

"Quil?!" Sam picks up after half a ring.

"Yup it's me. I have Claire. She's okay, I'm okay, and I just needed to take her somewhere safe away from there. I'm sure you can understand", I answer Sam.

"Quil you can't just take off like that! Especially not at a time like this. And you can't just take Claire with you. She's still a minor - her parents have responsibility over her! NOT you. Imprint or not." Sam growls through the phone.

Damn he's mad. I could care less though, as Claire is my primary concern.

"I have responsibility over her, and you know that Sam. I'm checking in. We're safe. That's all you need to know. I'll handle the parents". I answer quickly, before I lose my cool. I end the call before he can respond and shut off my phone.

My wolf senses prick up and I turn suddenly to see Edward coming outside towards me. Creepy cold bastard.

"Quil, Claire is quite upset. She doesn't remember us and doesn't know who were are. I'm sure we seem quite...strange...to her", he pauses but continues before I can interrupt. "You need to go to her, say something, anything, to calm her down and reassure her. I understand that you don't want her knowing certain things, but you can't just abandon her here like this without some answers to her questions."

The leech has been reading my mind again. He knows that I had planned to take off as soon as Claire fell asleep. I was planning on going back to the Rez to help get rid of those damn rogue vampires once and for all.

I know he's right, and I do owe her something even if it's not everything. I can't give her everything.

I follow Edward into the house. He and Bella are standing and quietly talking to each other in the living room. Whatever.

I knock gently on Claire's door. "Can I come in?"... "It's Quil" I add as a sudden after thought.

All I hear is sniffing. Damn crying again.

I decided not to wait for her answer and just go in anyway.

Claire is curled up on the bed, facing the other direction. I can see her tiny form moving slightly as she's trying to pretend like I'm not there. Bella must have gotten her something to sleep in, as I see her clothes folded up on the chair to the side of her bed.

I'm stalling, and I know it.

"Claire..." I start, gently sitting down on the side of her bed. Although my huge body causes the mattress to sag and she rolls into me unwittingly.

"Claire look at me please...and I'll try to answer some of your questions" I look hopefully her way.

She stills for a moment and then rolls over to look at me, with an unknown emotion in her eyes. Sitting up, the blanket falls away from her shoulders.

Holy hell what did Bella dress her in? Some sheer nighty lingerie thing? What the...

Focus, Quil, Focus.

I have to look away... the combination of her slightly messed up hair, bright eyes wet from crying, tears even still hanging on her long eyelashes, and flushed cheeks is too much. Too much.

"Claire the only answers I can give you for now are that there is a great danger on the Rez right now. You saw Kim's body... it's not safe there." Claire opens her mouth to interrupt, but I put one finger against her adorable little pouty pink lips and continue on, "Grace will be safe. In fact if you want I'll go get her and drive her here tomorrow also. I'll call your parents to and explain everything. These people are the Cullens, and they are Nessie's parents..you remember, Jacob's Nessie? They are okay people and will take care of you. You are safe here I promise. I don't know how long you need to stay, but hopefully it won't be very long".  
There. I hope that answered her questions enough.

Claire bats her eyelashes at me. What is up now? Was that not enough?

A tear slides off her eyelash and down her cheek, but I stop it with my finger. "No more crying, okay kid?"

At that remark, she suddenly looks down and purses her lips. I give up! What is her deal?! What did I say now?

"Good night Claire. I'll go get Grace and see you tomorrow. Get some sleep, okay?" She's not looking at me now. Good God she's like my personal little torture device. I can't ever make her happy.

I slide her down and tuck her in the blankets. Just like when she was a kid, I lean down to give her a little kiss on the cheek. When she was a kid?! What the hell is wrong with me..she STILL is a kid.

Suddenly though , something happens.

Claire turns suddenly and grabs my hair, pulling me back down and kisses me. On the lips.

Holy mother of...what the... oh my... shit..shit..shit

But I can't seem to pull away and stop this train wreck. I'm supposed to be what she needs and right now she needs... me.

My heart sings with happiness and aches with love as I realize she needs me, wants me.

I shut my brain off for a moment and just go with it. Kissing her back feels so good. Her mouth is so soft and warm. I can't get close enough to her. Closer. Closer...

Then before I know it, I'm lying next to her. Her hands are cupping my face and I'm holding on to her for dear life.

Air. Must breathe.

As I break away to breathe, Claire keeps kissing down my jaw line, my neck. I greatly underestimated her. When did Claire grow up?

I gently cup Claire's chin and kiss her again. I could live here. Forever.  
She's everywhere. All around me, in me, on me, under me. Must have more.

NO.

What in the hell am I doing?! Uh oh, brain turned back on.

I gently untangle from Claire and pull away. I stand looking at her dazed and not willing to move. She leans up on her elbows and looks at me questioningly, "Quil? Are you okay?"

If I stay here a second longer then I'm a goner for sure. Without letting my body decide for me, I quickly turn and bolt out the door - outside and into the forest. I phase as I run as fast as I can towards the rez, and away from Her.


End file.
